Get Your Kids Moving and Check Some Chores Off Your List

Updated:Jun 24,2014

With one in three kids overweight or obese, staying active is more important than ever. When you think about activities to get them moving, don’t forget to spread the love with chores — from dusting to mowing to walking the dog.

Your kids may not thank you, but their hearts will. Here are some chores and the calories they burn, adapted from Fitday.com. (Don’t forget to join them!)

Can they dig it? Give your kids shovels and ask them to start digging. If they do it vigorously for 20 minutes, they’ll raise their heart rates and strengthen their cardiovascular systems.

Hand out soap and a bucket and ask them to wash the car. Arms and abdominals will get a good workout.

Rake it in. Raking for 30 minutes burns 225 calories.

Scrub-a-dub tub for 30 minutes. Removing that stubborn soap scum from your tiles is a great way to burn about 200 calories and tone arm and shoulder muscles.

Make beds for 30 minutes. You’ll burn 130 calories, the same number you'd use if you jogged on a treadmill or on flat terrain for 15 minutes.

Put a load in the dishwasher. Loading the dishwasher for 30 minutes burns 105 calories, which is less than the 160 calories burned when washing them by hand.

Dive for the dust bunnies. Vacuuming for 30 minutes burns about 90 calories; dusting for the same time kills about 50 calories.